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Scene Setting

  • Setting: Jesus appears to his disciples on the shore, cooking breakfast over a charcoal fire (John 21:9).

  • The charcoal fire mirrors the last time Peter was around a fire—when he denied Jesus three times (John 18:15–18, 25–27).

 Jesus Restores Peter

  • Jesus asks Peter: "Do you love me?" three times (John 21:15–17), echoing Peter’s three denials.

  • Each time Peter says yes, Jesus responds: “Feed my lambs,” “Take care of my sheep,” “Feed my sheep.”

  • Key idea: Jesus doesn’t just forgive—he restores and recommissions Peter.

 

“Every time you rejected me, I will restore you.”

 

Jesus the Good Shepherd (John 10:11–18)

  • Jesus identifies himself as the Good Shepherd, echoing Ezekiel 34, where God promises to rescue, feed, and care for his scattered sheep himself.

  • Jesus' claim is bold and divine—he’s aligning himself with Messianic prophecy.

  • Pharisees would have heard this as a direct claim to be God.

 

"I am the good shepherd... I lay down my life for the sheep." (John 10:11)

 

Sheep = Us

  • Characteristics of sheep:

    • Social, timid, curious, easily stressed.

    • Require consistent care.

    • Get stuck, fall into danger repeatedly (think: sheep jumps into a ditch, is pulled out, and jumps back in).

  • Jesus’ metaphor isn’t just cute—it’s honest. We are:

    • Prone to wander.

    • Susceptible to hurt and sin.

    • Needy for consistent care and boundaries.

    • Repeatedly making the same mistakes.

 

"Have you ever jumped out of a hole just to jump right back in?"

 

‍ Our Calling: Sheep and Shepherds

  • Jesus modeled what it means to be both a Lamb (sacrifice) and a Shepherd (caretaker).

  • Now, he invites us to do the same:
    ➤ Receive his care as sheep
    ➤ Offer his care to others as shepherds

 

“Jesus doesn’t ask anything of us that he hasn’t already done himself.”

 

Restoration Is the Gospel

  • If Peter can be restored, so can we.

  • Your mistakes, denials, and failures don’t disqualify you from being used by God.

  • God is in the restoration business:

    • “I will seek the lost”

    • “I will bring back the strayed”

    • “I will bind up the injured”

    • “I will strengthen the weak” (Ezekiel 34:16)

 

“There is something in you that says: I can’t be the shepherd. But Jesus says: Feed my sheep.”

 

Pentecost Is Coming

  • This call to live as both sheep and shepherd is impossible on our own.

  • But we are not left alone—Pentecost is the promise of the Holy Spirit’s power in us.

  • We don’t lead ourselves. We are passengers. Jesus drives.

 

“Let me be the one who drives, and you get to be the passenger.”

 

Closing Reflection

  • The resurrected Jesus:

    • Restores what’s broken.

    • Empowers us through the Spirit.

    • Calls us to both receive care and give care.

  • You are not disqualified. You are invited into the care of the Great Shepherd.

“You are the sheep and you are the shepherd. Go and do likewise.”